If malnutrition increases the likelihood of depression
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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It is known that food addictions have a significant impact on health. But today, experts have proved that changing the diet will help get rid of some depressive disorders.
For a number of patients, a change in diet can be the first significant step towards a healthy life. Lately, a lot of facts have appeared that a high level of fat and carbohydrates in foods harms not only the figure, but also the state of mind. Such a diet triggers a chain reaction in the brain, which results in depressive disorders.
The Ministry of Defense of the United States launched a research project, during which a group of soldiers every day will eat certain nutritious foods. As a result, scientists will determine whether it is possible, with the help of nutrition adjustment, to reduce suicides among retired military personnel.
In the European Union, a project entitled "Products of Happiness" was launched, during which it will be established how useful products affect a person's mental health.
In one of the research projects of psychotherapist Felicia Jaka, patients were asked to change the diet in conjunction with drug therapy.
If the result is that a healthy diet helps block the appearance of severe symptoms of the disease, it will mean that a simple and effective method of supporting mental disorders has been found.
For the first time the connection between the physical and mental state was discovered about a quarter of a century ago, when doctors expressed fears that stress and poor mental health negatively affect the human immune system. However, as a result, it turned out quite the contrary, in patients with severe depressive disorders, immunity worked quite actively. For example, in such patients, a large amount of cytokine protein was detected in the blood, which is released from trauma or inflammation.
This phenomenon interested specialists and after some studies they came to the conclusion that the process is two-way - just as depression can provoke an inflammatory process, and inflammation can cause a depressive disorder. Often patients with cancerous tumors or arthritis complain of depression long before the diagnosis is established. Mike Mays (one of the first scientists who began to study the biological onset of depression) noted that people begin to suffer from depression much earlier than the underlying disease, for example, cancer, is diagnosed, which may be associated with an elevated cytokine level.
Another scientific experiment, conducted by the employee of the University of California Naomi Eisenberger, clearly demonstrated evidence of the relationship between mental and physical health.
In her experiment, Eisenberger administered a small dose of E. Coli to the volunteers, who did not develop the poisoning, but increased the activity of the immune system and the production of the cytokine. As a result, all participants throughout the day were marked by symptoms of depression: a sense of loneliness, inattention from others, a bad mood, and the inability to have fun.
Recent work shows that depressive disorders should be treated in a completely different light, not only as a disease of the soul, but also of the body. This indicates that harmful foodstuffs should be added to the factors that provoke depression. It has now been established that a large amount of fat and sugar in foods increase fat tissue, there the most intensifying inflammatory processes. However, it is also known that some substances, for example omen-3, selenium, zinc, have an antioxidant effect that reduces inflammation and restores the brain after injury.
Several years ago, some studies forced specialists to change their views. In one study, with a change in diet (from the traditional Mediterranean menu for fast food) it was found that fast foods doubled the risk of depression.
Similar results were found among British civil servants: lovers of fatty and sweet foods were 60% more exposed to depressive disorders.
Also, the studies of the psychotherapist Jaki confirmed the relationship between fast food and the development of depression. She was able to prove that eating leafy vegetables, wine, olive oil reduces inflammation and reduces the likelihood of depressive disorders by 40%.
In addition, even drinking water can affect the mental state. An experiment conducted by the staff of the Severotekhas Medical Research Center revealed that the presence of selenium in water helps to cope with inflammation and reduces the risk of depression by 17%.
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